Shoots And Ladders (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

Death & Co. have a handful of fortified wine cocktails. Some of these, like Shoots and Ladders, are low ABV cocktails. They are bold on flavor, but with fortified wine as the main ingredient, they are light on alcohol and you can have several of them in one sitting with no problem. 

This cocktail is served neat like an Old Fashioned, but it is far more herbal and spicy. Lots of infusions in here: basil infused Dolin Blanc and jalapeno infused blanco tequila. I'm trying out a new ingredient as well, Alexandro Amontillado is comparable to Lustau's Amontillado in price and style. It is dry and nutty and full of oak flavor. It is one of the two main components of this rich cocktail.

• 1 1/2 oz. basil-infused Dolin blanc
• 1 1/2 oz. Amontillado (Alexandro used)
• 1/2 oz. jalapeno-infused blanco tequila (Sauza used)
• 1/2 tsp. cane sugar syrup

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a rocks glass. (Optional smacked basil leaf garnish.)

Dangerous Liasons (Death & Company Recipe)

 

I just picked up a new bottle of MurLarkey Heritage whiskey from their distillery. I've really missed this craft whiskey on my bar. This batch seems to have been aged in barrels that previously held Cabernet or Merlot because it has a rich red color and the kind of tannin traction you'd expect from a full-bodied wine. I'm looking forward to their reading this post because they might let me know if I'm right about this. 

The only "dangerous" thing about this drink is that it puts a potent whiskey in sweet honey and tart citrus juices for a summery-tasting sour. It goes down all to easily. But I don't lament using my good whiskey--that "old country whiskey" comes through in the finish.

• 1 1/2 oz. MurLarkey Heritage whiskey
• 3/4 oz. Dolin blanc vermouth
• 3/4 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. acacia honey syrup
• 1 grapefruit crescent.

Shake all liquid ingredients with ice and strain into a highball glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the grapefruit crescent. 

Village To Village (Death & Co. Recipe)

There's villages and boroughs in New York, where Death & Co. began its mission to bring about craft cocktails. Tequila and rum comes from villages, too. And look how pretty, how relaxed this cocktail is. It's the balm from the tropics that salves that weary city dweller. 

I've made my own ingredients in this cocktail as usual. This is my allspice dram, a rum based and brown sugar liqueur, and my own ginger brandy that I used to flavor my syrup for this drink. 

The overall effect is kind of a fall or winter drink with apple and allspice and ginger. Angostura bitters lift the scent and add more allspice and cinnamon to the nose and the first sips.

• 1 1/2 oz. blanco tequila (El Jimador used)
• 1/2 tsp. allspice dram (homemade used)
• 1 1/2 oz. fuji apple juice
• 12 oz. acacia honey syrup
• 1/2 oz. teaspoon ginger syrup (simple and ginger brandy used)
• garnsih 2 dashes Angostura bitters and mint sprig

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with three ice cubes. Shake to combine and strain into a pilsner (rocks glass used) Garnsih with bitters and the mint sprig. 

 

Muddled Mission (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

You don't see too many muddled drinks strained and up and made with alpine spirits. There's something particularly intense about fresh fruit mixed with fruity and herbaceous spirits. Spicy gin like Citadelle or a fine quality London dry style keeps it on the lighter side, which means this mission is over way too soon.

• 1 strawberry
• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Citadelle used)
• 1 oz. St-Germain
• 1/4 oz. yellow Chartreuse (Dolin Genepy used)
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1 strawberry garnish

 Muddle one strawberry in a shaker and add ice and the remaining liquid ingredients. Shake and double strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with the strawberry. 

 

Get Lucky (Death & Co. Recipe)

There's a lot to like about Get Lucky. It is bountiful and pretty, to start with: crushed ice and muddled blackberries. Then there's sweetening ginger and honey syrup and orgeat. Balance all of that with citrus bitters and lemon juice. The flavor is familiar and comforting, the recipe is a little outside the ordinary, and I love it. 

Some fun changes I had to make include flavoring my simple syrup with ginger brandy that I made over the winter and using Mt. Defiance rum. This rum is as good as you can ask for in a small batch, colonial style white rum. It is rich on flavor but mixes well with a flavor of cooked brown sugar and a hint of ginger in the finish. 

• 3 blackberries
• 2 oz light rum (Mt. Defiance used)
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/4 ginger syrup (simple with ginger brandy added)
• 1/4 oz. orgeat
• 1/4 acacia honey syrup
• peychaud's bitters garnish

Muddle blackberries in a pilsner glass. Fill with crushed ice. In a shaker combine the remaining ingredients except for bitters and shake until incorporated. Strain into the pilsner glass and dash Peychaud's bitters on top of the ice. 

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Vejk Sling (Death & Co. Recipe)

Slings are popular, tasty and easy to make. They are some of the oldest cocktails in history, and yet they are not going away anytime soon. Basically, you need only a base spirit, some juice and soda, and a dash of a flavorful liqueur or a garnish usually helps distinguish one sling from another.

This Sling is mostly distinguished by scotch. It needs little else to make it interesting, however Dolin blanc and orange bitters send it in an appropriately fruity direction. Furthermore, a chamomile infusion in the Dolin blanc adds earthiness and apple-like notes

• 2 oz. Compass Box Asyla scotch (Spyburn 10-year-old used)
• 1 oz. chamomile-infused Dolin blanc vermouth
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 dash Bittermen's orange bitters (Hella used)
• club soda
• lemon twist

Combine all ingredients except soda in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass full of fresh ice. Top with soda and twist the lemon zest over the drink and drop it in. 

 

Tea in the Sahara (Death & Co. recipe)

Of all the infusions that I've made, I've never considered green tea and coconut infused scotch. But that is what is required for Tea in the Sahara. You need a dry, almost peppery infusion of Famous Grouse to pull this off. So I recommend getting dried coconut, not confectioner's coconut with all the sugar. It will really unbalance a cocktail like this that has no citrus except for the garnish. 

Besides the infusion, Strega is the only other spirit ingredient and honey syrup is the main sweetener. This drink is light but has body from Strega and honey. The scotch burns, but it has picked up earthy nuttiness from the green tea and coconut. (For my tea, I used sensha for its grassy notes.) The lemon coin (a thin slice of pith from the narrowest end of the fruit) hints at teatime with a cocktail that has a lot of exotic pastiche for a scotch drink.

• 1 lemon coin with a bit of pith
• 2 oz. coconut green tea-infused Famous Grouse scotch
• 1 tsp. Strega
• 1 tsp. acacia honey syrup

Squeeze lemon over a mixing glass and drop it in. Add the remaining ingredients and stir with ice. Strain into a double rocks glass with no ice. 

 

Gilda Cocktail (Death & Co. Recipe)

Have your Margaritas gotten boring? Do wish you were on a permanent vacation without a salt shaker? This is the drink for you. Cinnamon spices up your tequila cocktail nicely. Ordinarily cinnamon syrup is a long process of cooking and cooling, like they do at Death & Co. I used to do it, too. Now I just use a teaspoon of MurLarkey Cinnamon whiskey in rich simple syrup. The effect is the same, but you get the added benefit of alcohol, which acts as a preservative. 

The tropical nature of this cocktail can't be understated. Pineapple juice tends to do that. There's nothing revolutionary about that. I think that it is this precise combination of cinnamon and pineapple and a tequila drink finding relevancy in New York in the early 2000s that lets you know that what we might find commonplace now was once really edgy. 

• 2 oz. blanco tequila 
• 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. cinnamon syrup (MurLarkey cinnamon whiskey and simple syrup substituted)
• 1 lime wheel

Combine all ingredients except lime wheel in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the lime wheel. 

 

Dale Cooper (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This is the first of the Death & Co. stirred tequila cocktails I decided to dabble with this weekend. On the dessert side, this cocktail by bartender Jessica Gonzalez is a tribute to the Twin Peaks character of the same name. 

There's a lot going on here, from the cinnamon syrup and coffee infused sweet vermouth. The cocktail ties together the chocolate, cinnamon and coffee flavors associated with ancient and modern day Mexico. It is strong and on the large side--the recipe calls for a large Martini glass because a coup just won't handle it. 

I made a few modifications, as I always do, to save time and make up for ingredients I don't have on hand. The first is replacing the Green Chartreuse with Dolin Genepy, which is a fine move when considering how many powerful ingredients are contending for your attention in this drink. The other thing I did was instantly flavor my simple syrup with MurLarkey Cinnamon whiskey. I just added 1 tsp. cinnamon whiskey to my portion of simple I was using for this drink. I also flavored my portion of sweet vermouth with a tsp. of MurLarkey coffee whiskey. My thinking is that MurLarkey has already made these infusions so I don't have to, which is kind of the beauty of these whiskey flavors.

The result is a rich cocktail that combines your dessert Manhattan with cinnamon, coffee and chocolate flavors for a very round and satisfying nightcap.

• 2 oz. reposado tequila (El Jimador used)
• 1/2 oz. coffee-infused sweet vermouth (Cocchi di Torino with MurLarkey coffee used)
• 1/2 oz. Green Chartreuse (Dolin Genepy used)
• 1 tsp cinnamon bark syrup (simple syrup and 1 tsp. MurLarkey cinnamon used)
• 1 dash Aztec chocolate bitters 

 Stir all ingredients over ice, then strain into a Martini glass. 

 

Night Owl (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

More Death & Co. recipes involving sherry are coming your way. This one is actually pretty simple for the speakeasy bar's repertoire. Lustau East India solera sherry is probably the big star in this cocktail with its woody and raisin notes. The one funky ingredient is Batavia Arrack, which I used to have but stopped buying because MurLarkey Justice white whiskey is a fair substitute. I use it when making Arrack punsch and Swedish punsch, because it has a distilled corn taste similar to Arrack's distilled rice flavor. 

Anyway, the funk of sherry and Arrack (or Justice) negates the need for bitters in this cocktail. It is middling sweet, but cognac keeps it from being cloying. I'm glad I tried this before dinner, because there's no reason it has to be had late at night.

• 2 oz. cognac (Martell single distillery used)
• 1/2 oz. Punt E Mes (Cocchi di Torino used)
• 1/2 oz. Lustau East India Solera Sherry
• 1/4 oz. Van Oosten Batavia Arrack (MurLarkey Justice white whiskey used)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Hoi Polloi (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This simple tiki is a little unusual for Death & Co. Not that they don't use pineapple juice in shaken brandy cocktails. It's just a drink that doesn't challenge drinkers very much, which is probably why it is called Hoi Polloi, or "to the common people," in Greek. 

There's nothing to dislike in this cocktail, and in fact it checks all the boxes for a cocktail that doesn't offend. The one unusual ingredient is currant-infused rye. I didn't have dried currant, like the recipe book says, but I have a liqueur made from red currants. Mixing it with a little rye was the perfect save, but in such small amounts, I think it only served to give the drink a whiff of spiciness and rye.

• 1 oz. cognac (Meukow used)
• 1/2 oz. dried currant-infused rye (Rittenhouse and red currant liqueur used)
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• pineapple wedge garnish

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a shaker with three ice cubes. Short shake and strain into a Pilsner glass full of crushed ice. Garnish with the pineapple wedge. 

Great Northern (Death & Co.)

 

No surprises here. Akvavit, honey and bitter orange flavors are amazing together. The Death & Co. cocktail book says that akvavit is often overlooked because it doesn't appear in any classic cocktails and that the four drinks they offer are an attempt to remedy that. 

I've been singing the praises ever since someone gave me a taste of homemade akvavit. Now I make it myself with vodka and MurLarkey justice white whiskey. A combination of both gives the cocktail an herbal spiciness that is quite unlike any other spirit. It can go savory or sweet or, in this case, a little of both.

A note on acacia honey: this is an unusual honey made from the narrow-leafed tree. It is usually raw and has bits of the comb in it, so you can make the syrup, but you should strain it through mesh, or double strain the cocktail. I got mine as a travel gift from some western state, and I was glad I discovered it for this drink.

• 2 oz. akvavit (homemade used)
• 3/4 oz lillet blanc
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. acacia honey syrup
• 2 orange crescents as garnishes

 Shake (short shake) all ingredients except garnishes with 3 ice cubes and strain them into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with the orange slices.

Gonzalez (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

This drink is named after  Jessica Gonzalez, the first female bartender at Death & Co. She must have like the Martinez, because that is what this drink is doing, essentially. And it's great, its easy, it's so approachable, I had to make it with my own homemade gin.

• 2 oz. dry gin (homemade used)
• 3/4 oz. Punt e Mes (Cocchi di Torino used)
• 3/4 Luxardo maraschino
• 2 dashes aromatic bitters (Hella used)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain in to a chilled cocktail glass. 

Frisco Club (Death & Co. Recpe)

 

The Death & Co. cocktail book includes this riff on a Pegu Club with Fernet Branca and grapefruit juice. I'm pretty sure that changing the name to Frisco club is a nod to how much the bartenders of San Francisco love Fernet Branca. In the industry this is a well-known fact and anyone in the service industry can count on an out of town San Franciscan to request a shot or cocktail made with the stuff.

The nice thing about this cocktail is that it satisfies the itch of the shaken gin cocktail drinker without putting them off because of the bitterness. Instead, the bitterness gives backbone to the grapefruit juice. A brief note about blood orange liqueur: there's not much of that available. Aperol or in my case, Ambrosia, are fair substitutes with their rich, sweet citrus flavors. 

• 2 oz. gin (Citadelle gin used)
• 1/2 oz. Solerno blood orange liqueur (Don Ciccio & Figili Ambrosia used)
• 1/4 oz. Fernet Branca
• 3/4 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/4 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. simple syrup
• grapefruit twist garnish

Combine all ingredients except garnish in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Squeeze the grapefruit zest over the glass and garnish with it as a twist. 

Slap 'N' Pickle (Death & Co. Recipe)

Okay, this is the innovative akvavit cocktail from Death & Co. that I've been looking for. It's the first time that I've seen akvavit used with cucumber garnishes and muddled cucumber. Despite the name, there is nothing pickled in this cocktail: these are fresh cucumbers. It is the pickling seeds like fennel, coriander, and anise in the akvavit, and the celery bitters that give this drink its pickled character.

I had already prepared a few of the staple ingredients for this recipe. The first is my homemade akvavit with MurLarkey Justice white whiskey. And I have to say, once you learn to make your own akvavit, it is cheaper and better than the main brands, whatever may be available to you. And mostly you won't find much selection. I also found that making your own celery bitters is very easy and doesn't require gentian root. Just get a tsp. of celery seeds and some bits of chopped celery leaves and stalk and steep them in 100-proof vodka. The longer you steep them, the more bitter they get!

It feels like ten years ago that muddling cucumbers into a shaker was going out of style, but this drink's gimic, if you can call it that, is to put a cucumber spear in the glass to make it look like a pickle. I know why this is done; however, and it isn't for flavor. People at the bar will be wondering and asking about it, so the drink advertises itself.

• 3 cucumber wheels
• 2 oz. akvavit (homemade used)
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
• 1 tsp. grenadine
• 2 dashes celery bitters (homemade used)
• 1 cucumber spear garnish

Muddle 3 cucumber wheels in the shaker tin and add the remaining ingredients except for the garnish cucumber. Shake and double strain into a chilled Old Fashioned glass with a large ice cube. Garnish with the cucumber spear. 

 

One, One, One (Death & Co. Recipe)

 

While Death & Company is known for complicated recipes and combining flavors that are seldom experienced together, they are big fans of the three equal-part cocktail. The name says it by itself. I picked up a bottle of Dolin blanc just for this drink, and it is necessary to give it any sweetness and breathing room.

In terms of flavor, I would put this in the category of Martini variations. It is very dry, despite the wetter vermouth, and the orange and spice of bitters and akvavit really distinguish it from anything made with vodka. That said, it is one of Death & Co.'s many Martini variations that I want to try, mostly because I want to drink more gin and akvavit stirred in a cocktail that is easy to make. 

• 1 oz. akvavit (homemade with MurLarkey Justice white whiskey used)
• 1 oz. London dry gin (Citadelle used)
• 1 oz. Dolin blanc
• 1 dash orange bitters (Hella used)

Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass full of ice. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Robert Johnson Swizzle (Death & Co. Recipe)

I have a bois lele (Caribbean swizzle stick) for my birthday and I'm excited to tackle the swizzle section of the Death & Co. cocktail book. Between crushing the ice and meticulous swizzling and freezing the glass, a swizzle is a lot of work. So I started by making some of the easier recipes. 

This recipe is good for people who love bourbon drinks. There's vanilla, whiskey bitters and some cirtus and fortified wine. What's not to like? 

Unfortunately I didn't have the Fee Brothers whiskey barrel-aged bitters, but that's okay considering I had all the rest. I used my vanilla vodka to flavor the simple syrup for the sweetener. And you can taste it just fine under the Peychaud's that you have to dash on top of the ice so that you smell them while sipping through the straw. 

• 2 oz. bourbon (Ancient Age used)
• 3/4 oz. tawny port (ruby used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 3/4 oz. vanilla syrup
• 2 dashes whiskey barrel-aged bitters
• 3 dashes Peychaud's bitters
• mint sprig garnish

Add crushed ice to a chilled Collins glass and the shaking tin. Combine all liquid ingredients in the shaker and shake to chill. Pour into the Collins glass and stir with a bois lele, adding ice and continuing to stir until the glass freezes and the contents of the glass reach the top. Dash bitters on the ice and garnish with the mint. 

 

Strange Brew (Death & Co. Recipe)

  

I'm really enjoying beer with my cocktails lately. In some cases, as you may have seen previously, I also enjoy beer in my cocktails. The IPA craze has fueled a lot of creative bitter drinks that use beer for more than fizz. 

IPA is loaded with floral and citrus hop characteristics that make them taste almost juicy. This plays great with tropical flavors of falernum as well as herbal notes of gin. As I have done with previous cocktails, I'm using Stone IPA for its west coast style with more piney flavors. This is a good call when considering the pineapple and gin that goes into the Strange Brew. 

The Death & Co. recipe calls for Tanqueray 10, and I will echo that any high-botanical dry gin will hit the spot. Citadelle has 18 botanicals and it is in a luxury class of dry gin equal to Tanqueray 10. Sometimes you have to consider the quality of the gin, especially when making Death & Co. drinks, and even more so when mixing with beer. 

Overall, I loved how dry and bitter the drink was. It was refreshing and strong, like an IPA, but with lots of acidity and spice. If anything, I felt it could use more sugar; my falernum being a little drier than Velvet Falernum, so it did less to add sweetness. But I'm always appreciative when a Tiki (or near-Tiki) cocktail isn't heavy and doesn't shy away from the bitter and tart side.

• 2 oz. dry gin (Citadelle used)
• 3/4 oz. falernum
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• IPA beer (Stone used)
• 1 mint sprig garnish

Shake all ingredients with only 3 ice cubes, then strain into a pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Top with IPA and garnish with the mint.